The United States of America have announced that it will soon impose new sanctions on Russia for violating American and international laws by attempting to assassinate a former Russian spy living in England by means of a nerve agent.
The United States cited that the sanctions arose as a result of an incident in which a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a rare and toxic nerve agent on the 4th of March earlier this year.
The former spy and his daughter nearly died from the poisoning and the British blamed the Russians for the attempted assassination; Russia has denied the charges vigorously
About two dozen western European countries as well as Britain and the United States collectively expelled 210 Russian diplomats from their individual countries as fallout of the poisoning.
Russia responded with a similar number of diplomatic expulsions and ordered the closure of the American Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.
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The latest sanctions being issued by the United States are part of a number of anti-Russian efforts being undertaken by the United States in spite of President Trump’s attempts to forge warmer ties through direct talks with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
United States President, Donald Trump had met with Mr. Putin at a summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in July. Mr. Trump’s warm embrace of the Russian leader, as well as his apparent siding with Mr. Putin against assessments by American intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, opened the White House to a firestorm of criticism.
The United States Intelligence Agencies have also accused Russia of trying to meddle in its forthcoming mid-term elections and has arrested several intelligence officials it accuses of spying for Russia.
Mr. Trump has been under investigation regarding the role of his campaign organisation regarding the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential elections.